People who bought this also bought...

The Woman Who Smashed Codes

A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies

By:
Jason Fagone

Narrated by:
Cassandra Campbell

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

Unabridged

Overall

400

Performance

368

Story

365

In 1912, at the height of World War I, brilliant Shakespeare expert Elizebeth Smith went to work for an eccentric tycoon on his estate outside Chicago. The tycoon had close ties to the US government, and he soon asked Elizebeth to apply her language skills to an exciting new venture: code breaking. There she met the man who would become her husband, groundbreaking cryptologist William Friedman. Though she and Friedman are in many ways the Adam and Eve of the NSA, Elizebeth's story, incredibly, has never been told.

Intriguing title and phenomenal woman!

By
deb
on
09-27-17

The Great Bridge

The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

By:
David McCullough

Narrated by:
Nelson Runger

Length: 27 hrs and 29 mins

Unabridged

Overall

1,246

Performance

1,114

Story

1,110

This monumental book tells the enthralling story of one of the greatest accomplishments in our nation's history, the building of what was then the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Brooklyn Bridge rose out of the expansive era following the Civil War, when Americans believed all things were possible.

An Historian and not a Novelist

By
Tim
on
06-01-12

I Am Pilgrim

A Thriller

By:
Terry Hayes

Narrated by:
Christopher Ragland

Length: 22 hrs and 42 mins

Unabridged

Overall

6,823

Performance

6,273

Story

6,272

An anonymous young woman murdered in a run-down hotel, all identifying characteristics dissolved by acid. A father publicly beheaded in the blistering heat of a Saudi Arabian public square. A notorious Syrian biotech expert found eyeless in a Damascus junkyard. Smoldering human remains on a remote mountainside in Afghanistan. A flawless plot to commit an appalling crime against humanity.

Please let this all be fiction.

By
B.J.
on
08-08-14

Skunk Works

A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed

By:
Ben R. Rich,
Leo Janos

Narrated by:
Pete Larkin

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Unabridged

Overall

2,816

Performance

2,571

Story

2,570

From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, the never-before-told story behind America's high-stakes quest to dominate the skies.
Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret and successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of Cold War confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds.

Awesome

By
Jean
on
08-04-15

Call the Midwife

A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times

By:
Jennifer Worth

Narrated by:
Nicola Barber

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Unabridged

Overall

5,162

Performance

4,682

Story

4,682

At the age of 22, Jennifer Worth left her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in postwar London’s East End slums. The colorful characters she met while delivering babies all over London - from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lived to the woman with 24 children who couldn't speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the city’s seedier side - illuminate a fascinating time in history.

The best book I've listened to this year

By
Richard
on
06-12-13

The Fleet at Flood Tide

America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945

By:
James D. Hornfischer

Narrated by:
Pete Larkin

Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins

Unabridged

Overall

509

Performance

464

Story

463

One of America's preeminent military historians, James D. Hornfischer has written his most expansive and ambitious book to date. Drawing on new primary sources and personal accounts of Americans and Japanese alike, here is a thrilling narrative of the climactic end stage of the Pacific War, focusing on the US invasion of the Mariana Islands in June 1944 and the momentous events that it triggered.

Outstanding history

By
adam
on
11-27-16

The Woman Who Smashed Codes

A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies

By:
Jason Fagone

Narrated by:
Cassandra Campbell

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

Unabridged

Overall

400

Performance

368

Story

365

In 1912, at the height of World War I, brilliant Shakespeare expert Elizebeth Smith went to work for an eccentric tycoon on his estate outside Chicago. The tycoon had close ties to the US government, and he soon asked Elizebeth to apply her language skills to an exciting new venture: code breaking. There she met the man who would become her husband, groundbreaking cryptologist William Friedman. Though she and Friedman are in many ways the Adam and Eve of the NSA, Elizebeth's story, incredibly, has never been told.

Intriguing title and phenomenal woman!

By
deb
on
09-27-17

The Great Bridge

The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge

By:
David McCullough

Narrated by:
Nelson Runger

Length: 27 hrs and 29 mins

Unabridged

Overall

1,246

Performance

1,114

Story

1,110

This monumental book tells the enthralling story of one of the greatest accomplishments in our nation's history, the building of what was then the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Brooklyn Bridge rose out of the expansive era following the Civil War, when Americans believed all things were possible.

An Historian and not a Novelist

By
Tim
on
06-01-12

I Am Pilgrim

A Thriller

By:
Terry Hayes

Narrated by:
Christopher Ragland

Length: 22 hrs and 42 mins

Unabridged

Overall

6,823

Performance

6,273

Story

6,272

An anonymous young woman murdered in a run-down hotel, all identifying characteristics dissolved by acid. A father publicly beheaded in the blistering heat of a Saudi Arabian public square. A notorious Syrian biotech expert found eyeless in a Damascus junkyard. Smoldering human remains on a remote mountainside in Afghanistan. A flawless plot to commit an appalling crime against humanity.

Please let this all be fiction.

By
B.J.
on
08-08-14

Skunk Works

A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed

By:
Ben R. Rich,
Leo Janos

Narrated by:
Pete Larkin

Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins

Unabridged

Overall

2,816

Performance

2,571

Story

2,570

From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, the never-before-told story behind America's high-stakes quest to dominate the skies.
Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret and successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of Cold War confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds.

Awesome

By
Jean
on
08-04-15

Call the Midwife

A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times

By:
Jennifer Worth

Narrated by:
Nicola Barber

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Unabridged

Overall

5,162

Performance

4,682

Story

4,682

At the age of 22, Jennifer Worth left her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in postwar London’s East End slums. The colorful characters she met while delivering babies all over London - from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lived to the woman with 24 children who couldn't speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the city’s seedier side - illuminate a fascinating time in history.

The best book I've listened to this year

By
Richard
on
06-12-13

The Fleet at Flood Tide

America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945

By:
James D. Hornfischer

Narrated by:
Pete Larkin

Length: 23 hrs and 15 mins

Unabridged

Overall

509

Performance

464

Story

463

One of America's preeminent military historians, James D. Hornfischer has written his most expansive and ambitious book to date. Drawing on new primary sources and personal accounts of Americans and Japanese alike, here is a thrilling narrative of the climactic end stage of the Pacific War, focusing on the US invasion of the Mariana Islands in June 1944 and the momentous events that it triggered.

Outstanding history

By
adam
on
11-27-16

Publisher's Summary

At the peak of his power, in the 1940s and 1950s, William Francis Gibbs was considered America's best naval architect. His quest to build the finest, fastest, most beautiful ocean liner of his time, the S.S. United States, was a topic of national fascination. When completed in 1952, the ship was hailed as a technological masterpiece at a time when "made in America" meant the best.

Gibbs was an American original, on par with John Roebling of the Brooklyn Bridge and Frank Lloyd Wright of Fallingwater. Forced to drop out of Harvard following his family's sudden financial ruin, he overcame debilitating shyness and lack of formal training to become the visionary creator of some of the finest ships in history. He spent 40 years dreaming of the ship that became the S.S. United States.

William Francis Gibbs was driven, relentless, and committed to excellence. He loved his ship, the idea of it, and the realization of it, and he devoted himself to making it the epitome of luxury travel during the triumphant post-World War II era. Biographer Steven Ujifusa brilliantly describes the way Gibbs worked and how his vision transformed an industry. A Man and His Ship is a tale of ingenuity and enterprise, of a truly remarkable journey on land and sea.

Critic Reviews

"In his debut, Ujifusa harks back to a time when men were men, and transatlantic ships were serious business.... Written with passion and thoroughness, this is a love letter to a bygone time and the ships that once ruled the seas." (
Publishers Weekly)

Performance

Story

Brilliant stores of Atlantic Liners

A very detailed story of not just the ship and it's designer but a historical view on the challenges of ship building and operation in the United States, England, Germany and later Italy and others. The time frame spans from the early 1900s all the way through present date. As with all books read by Pete Larkin the presentation is excellent.

Long and little happens

I love nonfiction and am keen on grand project books, such as the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and digging of the Panama Canal, so I expected to like this, especially considering its high ratings. But it was a big disappointment. There was little detail about the engineering problems they overcame, and few anecdotes that would help you understand the character of the protagonists. Instead, you get a numbingly long description of Gibbs' education followed by the back-and-forth efforts of financing a big ship that is expected to lose money. Ultimately, the government subsidized the ship's construction and for a time it is the fastest of its kind.

Loved It!

Great story, just finished Fortune's Children about the Vanderbilts and I was surprised about the early beginnings of Mr Gibbs. The story of the man and the SS United States wad fascinating and enthralling and I'm sad nothing has been done to save such a magnificent ship.